Right now is the golden age of reading
Publishing may be in turmoil – but readers never had it so good.
Two quick things:
1. There’s a reader challenge below
2. Please tap the ((heart)) button. ((Hearts)) make All Predictions Wrong more visible on Substack.
One ought to be suspicious of Golden Age arguments.
Our grandparents did not have it better than us. People were not kinder and friendlier back then. Institutions were not more trustworthy in bygone days.
Golden Age arguments about the past are almost always based on a haze of nostalgia. But what about a Golden Age in the present?
Material circumstances clearly are better for most people in the West, and improving for most in Asia and Africa. This space soon will argue we have entered the Golden Age of telescopes: humanity is about to discover more regarding the cosmos than has been discovered in all previous centuries combined.
It’s the Golden Age for beer: best quality and variety ever, and beer is essential to the human experience. It’s the Golden Age for rapid, safe jet travel and easy long-distance communication.
And it’s the Golden Age for reading.
The publishing industry is in turmoil – as it has been since invention of the printing press. Most likely publishing, which is sensitive to public opinion and to developments in technology, will remain in turmoil for generations to come.
The literary novel is going through a phase of trouble – sales are dismal, millions of well-educated Americans haven’t read a literary novel in years.
But for anyone who does want a literary novel to read, they are published in great numbers, and many are impressively well done.
And that’s the only down indicator. People are reading newspapers, magazines, Web writing and nonfiction books as never before.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to All Predictions Wrong to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.